3 scientific reasons that body count matters
Reason 1
Fewer Sex Partners Means a Happier Marriage People who have had sex with fewer people seem to be more satisfied after they tie the knot. Is there hope for promiscuous romantics?
By Olga Khazan
source
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/10/sexual-partners-and-marital-happiness/573493/
Reason 2
more partners = less happiness
Psychologists Galena K. Rhoades and Scott M. Stanley found that the study respondents who had sex with other people prior to marriage reported lower-quality unions compared to couples who slept just with each other.
source
Reeason 3
Dopamine (DA) acting on D2, but not on D1, receptors in the nucleus accumbens
(NAc) promotes partner preference formation in both male and female prairie
voles (e.g., Liu and Wang 2003;
The brain OT system is significantly contributing to pair bond formation as
has been demonstrated initially in females by Sue Carter’s group
(Williams et al. 1994). Prairie voles have higher densities of OT receptor
(OTR) OTR in the NAc than do non-monogamous vole species, and several
studies have characterized the role of intra-NAc OR activation in
facilitating partner preference formation in female, but not male, prairie
voles (Liu and Wang 2003; Ross et al. 2009a, b; Keebaugh and Young 2011).
Since positive attachment relationships promote our physical and emotional well-being, this implies that the abrupt isolation can have dramatic negative consequences. Indeed, in humans the absence or loss of social relationships is accompanied by an increased risk for health issues (Uchino 2006; Uchino et al. 1996; Biondi and Picardi 1996; DeVries et al. 2003; House et al. 1988; Kirschbaum et al. 1995; Cacioppo and Hawkley 2003), including cardiovascular diseases Dopamine (DA) acting on D2, but not on D1, receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) promotes partner preference formation in both male and female prairie voles (e.g., Liu and Wang 2003; Aragona et al. 2006; for review, see Young et al. 2011; Young and Wang 2004). In contrast, activation of D1 receptors is thought to play a key role in the maintenance of an established pair bond in male prairie voles (Aragona et al. 2006).
source 3
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5815947/#R61